San Diego SAT and ACT Tutoring
Working with an independent tutor is the most efficient and effective way to master the SAT and ACT - because all meetings and homework assignments are customized to you.
In our view, the most important question for parents to ask is this: "Who will be the person tutoring my kid?"
Our competitors hire new tutors and give them a fixed curriculum to teach. We hire long-time tutors (average experience: 8 years) and trust them to adapt the tutoring to the student.
Look for each tutor's location and pricing in their bio.
Vince Kotchian
Vince: I grew up in small-town Connecticut and completed the honors program at Boston College, graduating with a B.A. in English Literature. I moved to San Diego in 2007, and I’ve been working full-time as a test-prep tutor ever since. Along the way, I've written some test-prep books and courses, but I still enjoy tutoring, even after 11 years. When a student texts me that she aced the test or got into her reach school, I still literally jump up and down and grin.
In my spare time, I like traveling using miles and points (Japan is our favorite country to visit), reading (favorite authors include Haruki Murakami, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and Philip Pullman), watching The Great British Bake-Off (and sometimes actually baking things), hiking and camping, and rooting for the Red Sox and Patriots. I live in the Kensington neighborhood with my hilarious wife and our crazy cat.
Vince specializes in helping high-scoring SAT / ACT students get past plateaus. He charges $299 an hour for SAT or ACT tutoring ($269 / hour for 10 or more hours), and meets with students in his Sorrento Valley office, or online.
Matt Sheelen
Matt: I am originally from Hopkinton, Massachusetts - the start of the historic Boston Marathon. I went to college at Northwestern University, where I graduated with a degree in Theatre. After college, I wised up and moved to the warmer coast. I worked in Los Angeles for many years as a full-time SAT / ACT tutor and part-time arts educator.
I have been tutoring for over 10 years and have spent thousands of hours helping students improve their scores. Recently, I moved to San Diego after getting a M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and I currently work as a credentialed classroom teacher.
When I’m not working, I enjoy good books, performing improv comedy, surfing, watching Game of Thrones, and enjoying the charms of San Diego. I live in North Park, where I love to get out and take advantage of all the delicious food in the area. I am also a huge Boston sports fan - the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics are my favorite teams.
SAT / ACT tutoring with Matt is $195 an hour ($175 / hour for 10 or more hours). He meets with students in North Park, or online.
Matt also teaches most of our SAT classes.
Blake: I’m a native San Diegan, father, and an aficionado of basketball, vintage video games, pitchy karaoke, and lecturing my son on how much better Star Wars was "back in the day." I played college basketball at St. Mary’s College and Whittier College where I earned my B.A. in Psychology in 2002.
My most important college mentors were coaches and teachers, so once I realized I didn't want to chase the dream of professional basketball, it’s not surprising that I turned to teaching and tutoring as a career. After college, I taught high school chemistry and started doing some individual tutoring on the side. I realized both that I had a knack for understanding the psychology of standardized tests and that I preferred individualized tutoring to teaching in crowded classrooms of 35 students. Ten years later, I’m a full-time test prep tutor and I believe that makes a big difference in the kind of expertise and tangible results I can offer.
SAT / ACT tutoring with Blake is $249 / hour (or $224 / hour for 10 or more hours). He specializes in working with students who have ambitious score goals.
He meets people in his Rancho Santa Fe office (whenever), in his Sorrento Valley office (before 2 p.m. on weekdays), or online.
Blake also teaches some of our SAT classes.
Blake Jensen
Bronte: My fondest memories of growing up here in San Diego are the Sunday evenings I spent cruising the beaches of Coronado with a gyro in one hand and a portable camera in the other (the kind you had to drop off at CVS to get developed)!
After graduating from SDSU, I accepted my first job as a SAT/ACT instructor. I quickly realized that my ability to be meticulous, my passion for problem solving and puzzles, and my inherent drive to organize information allowed me to mechanically maneuver students through standardized tests.
After tutoring in Denver for the better part of five years, I moved back here - as beautiful as a white Christmas was, I recently became an aunt and knew I had to get home to my family. You can still find me hanging out on the sand, although my portable camera has been replaced with a math book and my gyro with an acai bowl.
SAT or ACT tutoring with Bronte is $170 per hour ($153 / hour for 10 or more hours). She particularly loves helping students who struggle with math.
Bronte meets with students in her Point Loma office or online.
She also teaches all of our ACT classes.
Bronte D'Acquisto
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